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I was looking through my pictures and came upon the pictures from last year. I can’t believe how different my garden is now. Who would have guessed one year could bring so much change. Between the chickens and adding the west garden, I’m not sure which I am more pleased with. Well, that’s not true, I love my chickens! Anyhow, I just wanted to share a few pictures with you. I sure would love to see how your gardens are coming along. Am I the only crazy gardener?

This picture was taken almost a year ago on March 4, 2012. I had just added my newest boxes to the garden but the chickens hadn’t yet arrived.

Above are the latest pictures of the east (top) and west (bottom) garden. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my dad and mom (she was our cheerleader) for helping me get the potatoes, onions and peas planted when they came to visit last weekend. Dad even helped get a truckload of mulch. Nothing like putting your family to work. 🙂 The squirrels have been digging in the garden lately and so I used the raised bed protectors I had previously made to try to stop them. I only had two covers so the top left bed which is also planted with potatoes is uncovered, but so far so good. The other beds have not yet been planted. I hope to get more things planted this weekend.

I just had to add these last two pictures. The chics were giving me the stink eye the other day, because they thought they deserved more greens from the garden then I had given them. Then lastly, my baby Kahlo, on her first christmas in 2009.

I’m sure most of us gardeners have heard someone say, “make sure you rotate your crops.” What? Why is crop rotation such a big deal, and does it really matter? Yes, I think it does matter. Plants in the same family are genetically similar and share many of the same characteristics. Because of this, they lend themselves to being susceptible to similar pests, diseases and deplete the soil of many of the same nutrients.

In order to better understand how to rotate crops it’s important to know the different plant families.

Don’t let all this information intimidate you. Let’s just keep it simple. Divide your garden into four sections. If your garden is small don’t worry, just divide what you have. To accomodate for the four rotations we will group families. You will want to rotate a heavy feeding family, followed by a light feeding family, followed by heavy feeding family, followed by a soil builder. An example of this would be the potato/nightshade family, followed by an onion family or a beetroot family or a carrot family, followed by lettuce family or a cabbage family or cucurbit family, followed by the pea/bean family. This is just one suggestion, do what works best for you. Nowhere is it written that if you do not practice crop rotation your garden will fail. That being said, when gardening organically, doing all we can to prevent pests, disease, and soil depletion is always in our best interest.

It’s that time of year, where all us gardeners are starting to get the spring itch. Seed catalogs are filling our mail boxes and dreams of beautiful gardens occupy our minds. The past few weeks had brought on spring like temperatures, and although I know better, I couldn’t help but wonder if this year maybe I could cheat and get a head start on some summer veggies. But the cold front moved in, and helped to ease the itch, so I decided to occupy myself doing a much needed seed organization and inventory.

I pulled out my handy seed container and discarded any seeds from before 2011. I didn’t have many of these, so I didn’t feel much guilt in throwing them away. Although they may have still been good (as they stay in a cool, dark, dry place), I didn’t want to take the chance. Of course, my cat Zen thought she could read the years on the packs better then I could. Sadly, she may be right. 🙂

When I was first starting my gardening venture, I made a database that listed all my seeds and info pertaining to them. Click here to check it out. But as with many great things, I haven’t kept up with it and sadly it is not up to date. I can’t decide if I should just take the time and update this, or if I should find another way of keeping an inventory. For now I made a list in my gardening journal and will think on it. Hopefully, this is not another way of saying “do nothing about it.”

The actual organization part of the seeds was much easier. Previously, I had separated my seeds into warm season, cool season, and herbs. This just wasn’t working for my anymore. My seed collection has grown and the seasons tend to melt into one another. I decided I would separate them alphabetically. I used some old hanging files that were laying around. I cut them down and was able to get two out of each one.

I always save those little packs of silica, and throw them in my seed container to help suck up any moisture. Moisture will ruin seeds in a hurry.

I am pretty pleased with the results, although adding the files has made it a very tight fit. I think I will use two of these bins, to make more space. But for now, I am a happy gardener, and can’t wait to get started planting.

I thought I would explain how I care for my chickens. I am not a chicken expert! The things I do are based mostly upon the suggestions given to me by the couple from whom I initially got my chickens and by trail and error. I’ve had my chickens for 8 months and they seem to be happy and healthy.

Below is a picture of what the coop and run I inherited looked like. The run is 12′ x 20′ with hardware cloth dug down about a foot all the way around it. The run has been filled with bags and bags of leaves upon initial set up with new leaves added whenever I could find them as the months went on. Once a week I turn the leaves with a pitch fork. The coop is 4′ x 8′ with the 6 nesting boxes that can be opened from the outside. In the coop there are perches made out of sanded 2″x2’s” for the hens to roost.

Initial set up

Because we have had so many visits from the black bears, the top of the run is framed out with 2×4’s and then covered with metal panels with 2 inch squares, which is covered by chicken wire, and then topped off with shade cloth. This seems to be working, the bears walk across the top but do not get in.

Roof of the run

The chickens have constant feed and water available to them. I am happy with the feeder but hopefully soon I will be changing the waterer to nipple waterers. I am constantly battling with the one I have. I made nipple waterers for my brooder earlier this year, click here to check it out. Now I just need to make a larger model for the hens.

This winter I have provided supplemental light for the hens so they would continue to produce eggs. I have two 60 watt lights on a timer. I change the timer as needed to ensure 15 hours of light. I have the lights outside the coop, one shining on the coop and the other on the run. The one on the run is merely for me to be able to monitor for bears. The last time the bear came I used my air horn and scared it away. At this time I have 22 laying hens and get 12 to 16 eggs a day.

This is the light that shines on the run.

I live in the suburbs so my hens are not free range. When I first got them I would let them out for short periods of time and move them around the yard. It didn’t take long to realize this was not going to work. My dog, Kahlo, would try to get them and then would enjoy their dropping once they were moved to a new location. I decided that Kahlo would have to share her back yard with them. The chickens get the back portion of the yard and Kahlo the front, with neither party infringing on the others territory. The hens get to come out of their run and enjoy this area whenever I am home. Their area goes back into the woods and measures 50′ x 60′. When the hens first got their section of the yard, a lot of it was grass. It took them about 2 1/2 months to destroy this. I see pictures of other people’s hens living on what looks like nice grass. But I have not had the same experience. What grass the hens didn’t consume down to the roots was dug up as they moved their dust bath area from one place to another. Now they have to be content with getting greens from my garden, which seems to be fine by them. I did mulch one section of their area but now I think sand is better. I can clean up the sand area much easier then the mulched. Below are pictures of what their area was to what it now has become. Please forgive the fact the bottom picture isn’t merged properly.

I have a 3 foot welded wire fence around my gardens and across the back of the chicken area, with just a short little fence across the front. There are lots of wooded areas around my house, filled with animals who would love a chicken dinner, such as coyotes, black bears, domestic cats and dogs, hawks, and even a florida panther was once spotted in my sub division. All this to say I am not comfortable allowing them to roam the woods. Thankfully the hens seem content to stay in their designated area.

The good part about all those many, many bags of leaves I toted to the chicken run is that they turn to compost. Once a year the coop and run get a deep clean with all materials removed and the coop thoroughly cleaned. The other day I removed all the now composted leaves out of the run and into my west garden boxes that were waiting to be filled. I calculated I moved approximately 100 cubic feet of compost out of the run and into the garden. Now I will be collecting more leaves and refilling the run, and the cycle will begin again.

This is what came out of the run, Beautiful compost!

Garden boxes were all filled.

I think this covers how I take care of the chickens. I’d love to hear how other take care of their chickens.

I can’t believe how time flies. Here we are halfway through January and I am finally putting this list out.

The weather here in zone 8b this year has been strange, to say the least. We have had a few frosts, but overall we have had above average temperatures. I noticed this morning my easter lilies we starting to grow and many of my other flowers that had been hit by the frost are starting to bud out. We have gone so long now without a hard freeze I am hoping that we won’t get one. I know many people fear without a freeze, the following year bugs will be that much worse. When I was taking my Master Gardener Class, this topic came up, and my instructor said this is not true. She explained that bugs could bury themselves either in soil or plants to protect themselves from freezing. Thus, whether or not there is a hard freeze, has no bearing on the bug population. This makes sense to me, but I do think mosquitoes will be worse. My thinking is that stagnate water in many people’s yards will not have frozen, allowing mosquitoes to continue to multiply. If anyone has research to prove any of this, please share.

I seem to have strayed from the topic. So without further ado:

Vegetables to plant in January for zone 8b:

beets

broccoli

cabbage

carrots

celery

chinese cabbage

english peas

kale

kohirabi

leek

mustard

onions – bunching

potatoes

radishes

turnips

Below is a photo of my east garden today January 13, 2013. The front bed on the left has brocoli and a few stray mustard plants growing in it. The front bed on the right hass the chard and mustard, they are coming to their end. I have been removing the outer leaves but they are almost done. The second bed on the left has lettuce, beets, and cabbage. The beets are ready to be picked and the cabbage are forming heads. The second bed on right has a couple boccoli plants that I was hoping would go to seed and provide me with more seeds. I’m not sure what variety of broccoli this is as I got the seeds from a stranger at a seed swap. This broccoli has grown very well for me and is tasty, so I wanted to get more seeds. I assumed that if I let a couple go to seed that after they bloomed I would get seeds. I’m happy to say I have seen a few bees on the flowers, but as of yet no seeds. I’m hoping I just need to be a little more patient. There are also a few radishes growing down the far outside right of this bed. I’m hoping to plant potatoes in this bed so I need the radishes and broccoli to hurry along. The back bed on the left which is not visible in this photo is not much to behold. There are carrots and lettuce, both of which are ready to come out. I had planted more carrot seeds but they have not germinated well, but there are a few tiny plants growing. The back bed on the right is kind of a hodge podge, which is the way I garden. But it mainly consists of mustard and radishes. Mustard has grown very well for me and I like it, which makes it a good vegetable for me. I still have to finish adding a layer of mulch, but I started with some of the left over I had from when I was mulching the west garden a few weeks ago.

East Garden January 13. 2012

If anyone has suggestions for how to prepare beets, please let me know. I never liked beets growing up but decided to give them a try as most things taste better when they are home grown. I did eat some of the leaves as greens and they are delicious, but now I need to eat the actual root and to be honest I am a little intimidated.

I took a week off between Christmas and New Years to get my west garden ready. To say the least, I felt that I needed a vacation from my vacation when all was said and done. But when I am reaping the produce from my garden this upcoming year it will all be worth it.

In my previous Garden Update post I mentioned how I was planning on adding to my garden. I really wanted to get the hard work done, not only while the weather was work friendly, but also so I would have it ready to plant. Here is how I spent most of my week off.

Beginning of West Garden installation.

Boxes from reclaimed wood finished. I had to purchase the wood for the three remaining boxes.

Leveling the boxes. This is an important step if you are gardening on a slope like I am. If not done, water could either puddle or run off.

The walkways were mulched with wood chips.

Kahlo protected me as I loaded the mulch into the truck.

Unloading the mulch. It took 3 truck loads.

Paper was laid down on path areas that had grass.

Cardboard was laid in the bottom of the boxes where there was grass. This time I decided to lay cardboard rather than remove the grass. I figured I had enough to do.

Finally finished!! Now all that is lacking is the filling of the boxes. That will have to wait for another time.

I was so excited last week when one of my customers gave me a bag of naval oranges off her tree. My first thought was to make marmalade, which I have previously made. But then I remembered I had seen a recipe for sweet orange jam on 365 days of creative canning, and thought I would try that. I should have known better then to start making jam at 7 pm, but sometimes you just have to go for it.

Now onto my hard lesson learned. Not all powdered pectin is the same. I have always used sure jel when making jam but I couldn’t find it when I went shopping, so I bought another brand. I didn’t notice until after making my jam and seeing that it wasn’t setting, that the label of the pectin said something about freezer jam. I have to assume that this pectin is not the same as pectin used to make traditional jam. Now, I have lots of tasty little jars of orange syrup not orange jelly. I was planning on gifting most of this, but now I’m not sure what to do with it. There is never a good time to learn these lessons, but now is especially not a great time for me. But at least, it tastes great and all the jars sealed.

Time is just flying by. I just can’t believe Christmas is just 18 days away. I know everyone is busy but if you have a little empty room in your garden and are so inclined here is a list of veggies to plant.

Vegetables to plant in December for zone 8b:

beets

broccoli

brussel sprouts

cabbage

carrots

chinese cabbage

collards

kale

kohirabi

leek

mustard

onions

radishes

If you’re keeping track and this list looks a lot like Novembers, you’re right. But, hang in there January is going to be bringing us some different veggies. Spoiler alert, potatoes and sweet peas. I hope to have my West garden ready for the January crop. I’ll keep you posted as to how that goes.

Now completely off subject, I am going to post a picture of my latest creations. I know it’s supposed to be a secret and I have been holding off on doing this, but I have to share this with someone. So if you get this from me for Christmas just pretend to be surprised. 🙂 I huge thanks to my chics for giving something to decorate!

The weather here has been warm and it seems my garden is really loving it. We had our first frost about two weeks ago, and of course I forgot to write down the date. I really need to get better about doing this. I’m sure next year I would love to be able to look back and check the first frost date. I guess I am going to cheat and give it a round about date just for future reference. I think keeping a garden journal will be one of my new year resolutions and since I got an early christmas present the other day I will have no excuse. I have used my new book to layout my existing garden, East Garden, and my new garden, West Garden.

I love early Christmas presents. Now I have no excuse for not writing things down.

Garden Layouts

Since I didn’t cover my garden before the frost I lost all my summer veggies. But, I am very pleased with how much I was able to harvest from my second summer garden. I will definitely do this again next year. Or, actually what I am hoping is to constantly have different plants in my garden. When one plant is finished in will go the next. Here is a picture of what my garden looks like today. As you can see from the banana and the beans the frost took it’s toll of many plants. The empty beds have been replanted but the seedlings are still very small.

Garden Dec. 4, 2012

One of the bigger heads of broccoli.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to add to my garden. Well, after changing my mind a million times, as to where this garden was going to go, I finally made a decision. In my back yard, on the opposite side of the yard from the existing garden is a butterfly bed. I decided to move all these plants and put my garden there. Then, as luck would have it, a friend of mine gave me a bunch of reclaimed wood to build my boxes. Thanks Chris!

Butterfly bed.

The area after most plants have been moved.

I decided to let the chickens into the area to help get the area ready for my boxes.